Scaling Without Breaking: Designing for Growth at Kova Technology
A startup grew from 40 to 280 people in 18 months. Everything still runs through the founders. The board wants a structure that scales before the next round.
Duration
85 min
Difficulty
Advanced
Stakeholders
4
Company Size
Medium (100-500)
Organizational Background
Kova Technology builds workflow automation software for healthcare compliance teams. It raised a $42M Series C after explosive growth. Headcount jumped from 40 to 280 people in 18 months. The two co-founders - one technical, one commercial - still approve most hiring decisions, all major product decisions, and most large customer contracts. There are no formal business unit structures. Product and Engineering operate as a single team under the technical co-founder with no product management layer. Customer Success and Sales report into the commercial co-founder and are blending in ways that create accountability confusion. HR has flagged that onboarding is inconsistent, career paths are undefined, and four senior hires from enterprise companies have already left, citing 'startup chaos that isn't charming anymore.' The board has given the founders 90 days to present a scalable organizational model.
Key Stakeholders
Learning Objectives
- Apply organizational design frameworks to a founder-led organization in rapid scaling transition
- Diagnose the specific structural failure modes of informal, founder-centric organizations at growth inflection points
- Design a span-of-control model and governance structure appropriate to a Series C company
- Navigate co-founder dynamics and the psychological challenges of role redefinition at scale
- Develop a phased implementation plan that preserves entrepreneurial culture while introducing structural clarity
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